What is the digital foundation of an organization?
The digital foundation of an organization consists of the systems, knowledge, and agreements needed to use digital technology safely, efficiently, and future-proof. This strong digital foundation is important because more and more processes are becoming digital. Think of your audience reach and ticketing to collection management and collaboration with partners.
But what do you need to have in place?
The digital foundation of an organization usually consists of the following four building blocks:
- Application landscape: Create an overview of the tools and systems your organization uses so you can identify optimization opportunities and resolve potential bottlenecks.
- Cybersecurity: This helps protect systems, data, and digital collections from cyber incidents. It’s not just about technology but also about employees acting consciously and safely.
- From legislation to subsidies: These are the frameworks every cultural organization must comply with, such as the AI Act, privacy (GDPR), copyright, digital accessibility (European Accessibility Act), and digital sustainability.
- Digital skills: This ensures that employees use digital tools safely and consciously and have sufficient knowledge to work with them.
These components together form the foundation on which organizations can build their digital strategy and digital projects and digitally transform. On this page, you can click through to detailed pages for each building block with practical explanations, tools, checks, and steps to further strengthen your digital foundation.
Why a digital foundation is important now
Getting your digital foundation in order prevents bottlenecks in the organization. This ensures that systems align well with each other, responsibilities are clear, and risks around security and legislation are minimized. This creates space and opportunities to make good use of new digital developments.
By consciously working on a strong digital foundation, more overview and coherence are created. Organizations can work more securely, better manage risks, and use digital systems more effectively for their goals.
At the same time, circumstances are changing rapidly. Legislation is evolving, visitors expect accessible and secure digital services, subsidy providers impose requirements, and cyber threats are increasing. A strong digital foundation helps organizations to be well-prepared for this.
With a strong digital foundation, your organization can:
- Control costs (no duplicate tools or unnecessary licenses)
- Create more impact in digital projects
- Improve cybersecurity and compliance
- Respond faster to incidents or digital developments
- Create peace and overview in systems and processes
By paying attention to this now, you prevent losing a lot of time, money, and energy later in solving problems.
Where do you stand with your organization's digital foundation?
Are you starting by mapping out your application landscape to identify improvements and bottlenecks? Or are you starting with digital accessibility because you see opportunities there? No problem: every organization starts at a different point. Focus on where your biggest challenge lies now and start there.
Whatever starting point you choose, the four building blocks help you work step by step on a strong digital foundation. From each topic, you can click through to detailed pages with practical tips, checks, and step-by-step plans.
Lay the foundation for a future-proof cultural organization today.
1. Create an overview with your application landscape
A clear overview of your application landscape and IT infrastructure helps you gain control over your digital systems and data. By having insight into which tools you use and how they work together, you can quickly identify bottlenecks and optimization opportunities. This supports your digital strategy and helps you take steps towards data-driven working.
This is also a good starting point to map out your 'crown jewels': the most valuable data and systems that need extra protection within your cybersecurity approach. With DEN's workshop, you can visualize your digital landscape and gain immediate insights to make targeted improvements.
2. Get cybersecurity in order
Digital collections, audience data, and internal systems are valuable. This also makes them interesting to cybercriminals. A cyber incident can have major consequences for your organization, for example, when systems are temporarily unavailable or sensitive information is leaked.
By focusing on cybersecurity and digital safety, you reduce these risks. You protect valuable information and data, ensure systems remain secure, and strengthen your organization's digital resilience.
We help you step by step:
1. Assess where your organization stands in terms of cybersecurity – take the scan
2. Get started yourself and take your first steps to improve your cybersecurity with a step-by-step plan
3. Take the Cybersecurity workshop and create an Incident Response Plan so you are well-prepared for a cyber attack
3. From legislation to subsidies - what you need to comply with
4. Digital basic skills for you and your team
A strong digital foundation not only requires good systems but also employees who use them consciously and competently. Digital basic skills involve understanding digital tools, working safely online, and handling data responsibly. Think of recognizing risks, following guidelines, and responding to digital developments, such as AI.
Within each building block, it becomes clear what knowledge and skills are needed to work well with it. If you want to accelerate this, a joint basic training – such as an in-company AI training – can help bring your entire team to the same level. This creates a shared foundation of knowledge and skills, enabling your organization to better and more responsibly leverage digital developments.
Start with your digital foundation in your region
